Ready to see
three months ahead?

September last year. One of my BHV instructors (BHV is the Dutch in-house emergency response training) went on holiday for two weeks and only told us in July. His diary was already full. I had to move four sessions and in the end borrowed someone from a fellow training provider to cover the gaps.

The annoying part: the data to spot this three months earlier was already in the system. There just wasn't a view that showed a peak like that.

So we built the Forecast in Trainiq.

What you see

The Forecast opens as a table. Courses down the side, twelve months across. Each cell shows what we expect for that month, next to how many seats are still open in the sessions you've already planned. The difference is the shortfall. Red cells mean too few.

Click a cell and you get the names. Participants whose certificates expire that month, split into “already has a new booking” and “nothing yet”. That second list is the one you actually need to work on.

Where the number comes from

From the history in your own Trainiq environment. Upcoming refreshers, earlier bookings per course per month, and the capacity you already have in planned sessions. No external integrations, no opaque model. You can click any cell and see what the estimate is based on.

Filling gaps in the schedule

Monday morning, I look at September. BHV refresher is red: 40 expected participants against 20 open seats. Click through on the cell: 28 are existing participants due for a refresher that month, 12 come from the estimate of new registrations.

So, a second session. One of my instructors is away for two weeks in September, which leaves the first or the last week. I check instructor availability in the planner and pick Wednesday 28 September.

And also: planning sessions at the right moment

Closing a gap is one thing. Planning a session at the wrong moment is a different problem, and it costs just as much money.

Trainiq automatically sends a refresher e-mail 90 days before a certificate expires, with a link to your upcoming sessions. Plan a new session inside that window and it goes out in the next e-mail. Plan it later and the participant has to go looking by hand, and half of them never do.

Three things I check in the Forecast before I pick a date:

• Whether the session falls inside the 90-day e-mail window for the participants who are due a refresher then. If I look in May and see 40 participants expiring in September, I plan the session between July and the end of August. Not in June, because then it won't be in their refresher e-mail.
• Whether the week itself is usable. The construction industry holiday, Christmas, the February half-term: participants in construction and logistics won't get off the sofa for a course then. Planning a BHV peak in week 28 is pointless.
• Whether I'm stacking three sessions of the same course into one week. Participants prefer some spread. Four BHV refresher sessions in September go into weeks 36, 38, 40 and 42 rather than a few consecutive weeks.

The Forecast gives you the view across twelve months. Which month peaks, which month is quiet, which month is already overbooked. So it isn't “how do I fill the gaps”, it's “how do I spread my capacity over a year I can now see.”

What it deliberately doesn't do

The system doesn't propose sessions. It doesn't send “we found a gap, click to plan” suggestions. A training provider knows which instructor won't start before 09:00 in January or which client company expects its fixed session on Monday morning. That knowledge doesn't belong in a model.

The Forecast gives you the view. Whether you use it to create a session, or to cancel one because it stays quiet, is a planner's decision.

When this is useful

It works for training providers above roughly 50 participants a month. Below that you know it faster yourself than a table does. It works best for courses with an expiry cycle: BHV, first aid (EHBO), VCA, Code 95, forklift. There, the upcoming refreshers are the strongest signal.

Open it in your own Trainiq environment, or request a demo via trainiq.nl.